The Monster in the Mist
by YF-21
Summary: Finally free from her dimensional prison, the Queen of the Gears faces an unlikely adversary.


DISCLAIMER: The characters, story, universe, etc of Guilty Gear belongs to Sammy. They´re not mine and I make no claim to them.

The Monster in the Mist by YF-21

"" denotes speech.

_Denotes emphasis / flashbacks / thoughts._

Prologue

"_Is anybody out there? – Answer us, please! T-the Gears went crazy –they are on the streets, killing everybody! Is any -BZZZZT- Answer us, please!."_

_The buzz of the radio died down, and was replaced by another._

"_Nagano airbase, we need your confirmation about elements from the 5th battlegroup taking off without authorization." The radio operator sounded more agitated and nervous by the moment. "Do you copy, Nagano airbase!. I repeat, do you-"_

_So the military remained still in disarray then. She changed frequencies again. The ability to tap into radial communications was something common to military Gears, but unlike the rest of them, she was actually capable of understanding its uses._

"_We are trapped inside the Washizuka tower and the damned things are trying to get in." A collected, masculine voice transmitted. "We barricated the exits but don´t know how much they will hold. Please, there are children here. If anyone can hear us, we are trapped insi-"_

_Emergency calls and pleas for help filled the air waves. There was hardly any useful information to be obtained._

"_The government have officialy declared the districts of Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo and Akihabara as disaster areas. All civilians are to evacuate the areas immediately..."_

_It was by sheer luck that she was able to tap into the official channels. Paying attention to the security measures given to the helpless japanese, she had found the human ability to remark the obvious most unimpressive._

"_The JSSDF is being deployed to deal with the threat."_

_Which was good as nothing, considering that most elements of the Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force consisted of Gears. Their real capacity of response was close to nil, as great part of the islands military installations were overran and overwhelmed from within._

_Hovering in the air, the creature took a look to the blazing inferno in the ground. Fires raged on several of Osaka´s residential areas, golden flames lighting the dark night, random explosions taking place across the city. Thousands of disgruntled biomechanical horrors wererunning amok the streets, lashing out against everything and everybody in their path with frantic delight. These broods were only a means to an end, an end which happened to not include humans at all. Unable to resist her call, she had reached out with her mind, and issued them a single instruction._

_Erradicate._

_They brimmed with energy, magic running through their veins. The race of mindless, subservient slaves had turned into a crazed, ravenous horde. The humans had deprived the broods from their free will, and in return, the broods would deprive the humans from their lives. It was fitting._

_It was justice._

_The euphoria below wouldn´t last for long. Human retaliation was imminent. In a matter of hours, nuclear death would rain from the skies – and with that, her task here would be done._

_Battlesuits began to approach from all directions. Fleeing from their respective bases, the military Gears rushed toward the designated rendezvous point. It was about time – the assembling of her army had waited enough._

_The synthetic voice interrupted her train of thought."Your command?."_

"_West." She ordered them. "We march west." _

_All forces accounted for, the swarm of living weapons left the Osaka sky. Their destiny: the shores of Korea. With their numbers bolstering with each passing moment, Seoul and Pyongyang would also fall, as no city would stand in the way of the raging broods. Led by an only will and an iron resolve, this army of monstrosities couldn´t possibly know defeat.  
_

There was a flash of light, and then, silence. The rupture of the dimensional prison charred the grass of the field in a considerable radius, and flames licked the trunks of the few trees able to stand. The smoke dissipated and the dust finally settled, revealing the source of the destruction itself. A hundred years had passed, but it remained still a ominous view. The moonlight bouncing off the silver armor. The vivid russet hair sliding through its back. The figure stood up gracefully, almost in a regal manner.

Justice was, after all, the Queen of the Gears.

Her mind was in turmoil. Justice ran a diagnosis and became bombarded by reports and alarms of maintenance – several of her subsystems had suffered descompensations during the planar re-entry and needed to be repaired. She shushed the voices out of her head. All that was irrelevant. Everything paled before the only thing that mattered.

"I have returned."

The Gear clenched and unclenched her claw-like hands. Despite what could possibly be months of disuse, Justice was pleased to see that she was quickly regaining full control of her motive functions and had sustained no major damage to the pertinent areas. Recalibrating most of her sensors would be a different problem, though.

"How long it´s been?..." The creature asked aloud, to no-one in particular.

"Five years." A voice came from behind her. "It´s been five years."

**_Voice analysis complete: Human. Male._ _Source unknown._**

She wasn´t alone. As always, self-preservation was a priority, and Justice´s proximity sensors rang as soon as she had emerged from the rift. She had briefly considered to blast the presence away and be done with it, but ultimately deemed it unneccesary. If this human was to attempt something, he had missed his only chance.

The Gear turned around, towering over the proportionally small source of the voice. She was greeted by the all-too familiar white and blue uniform of the Holy Order; the same generic uniforms she and the broods had been slaughtering for decades.

The same generic uniforms that had somehow managed to seal her in.

_**Subject analysis complete: Subject likely to match description of file # 3478953-SH. **_

So it seemed that she had met this particular human before. Justice kept a record of all enemy forces encountered in her vast memory banks, including confirmed or unconfirmed kills. The knight clearly looked like the image of the human she registered in the bank, straight to the blonde hair and the blue eyes. Chances were they were the same person.

_**Rank: Captain.**_

Something was wrong, amiss here. "Where is he?." Justice asked. "Where is your commander, knight?."

For a fraction of a second, the factions of the man´s face slightly twitched. The gesture would have been imperceptible to most men, but it did not escape the Gear´s constant analysis.

"I see..." Justice said in what could pass as a condescending tone. "It is a tragedy then. I was hoping to crush his windpipe with my bare hands."

"I am his replacement."

"Really?. How unbecoming of him."

She turned her back on the knight. For tempting the thought of crushing this human was, Justice dismissed it. She had far more pressing matters to attend, like reassembling the scattered broods or finding and dismantling the meddling Prototype.

"Go now, and tell your kind that justice will be served." She warned. "Soon."

The man steeled himself. If he failed to contain the armored abomination here, the Crusades might start anew. Death would too small a price to pay for afailure.

"You have scourged this land for long enough." He said, small bolts of electricity running through the peculiar blade. "I won´t allow so again."

_**Power spikes confirmed on weapon of unknown origin. Commencing analysis of target´s offensive capabilities.**_

_What?..._

Justice turned around again, her red optics boring into the sky blue eyes of the blonde man. Ever since her deployment, a century ago, only five humans had so blatlantly dared to stand up to her. Four of them were dead.

"I have marched across hundreds of battlefields unscathed. What could a _single_, puny knight like you possibly hope to do against me?."

The young man remained undaunted. "Fight me, and find out."

"You haven´t answered my question."

"The _how _is irrelevant. I _will_ destroy you. It is God´s will."

So he was going to destroy her just because he _would?._ Justice smirked under the iron helm. Human stupidity never failed to amaze her. It was hearing things like this that made it almost a pity to mark the entire species for erradication.

"You are a waste of time." She said scornfully. "I have a purpose to fulfill." 

The knight´s eyes narrowed. "Genocide..."

The Gear nodded. "Indeed. The cleansing awaits."

"Then let it start with me."

_**Estimations on target´s offensive capabilities inconclusive. Scans on weapon of unknown origin inconclusive due to constant power fluctuations.**_

Justice ignored the report of her threat indicator. To regard a single human as a potential danger was ridiculous, if not downright preposterous. Besides, the misreadings in the scans were probably due to the miscalibrations of her sensors.

"Very well." Justice said, smiling under her mask. "Since you seem so eager to die, I´ll grant you eternal rest."

She would humour this knight. He was not only asking for it, but it had also been awhile since the last time, after all.

**_Warning. Following course of action should be reconsidered._**

The young man kneeled and made a pray. For the mother he never knew. For the mentor that taught him everything he held true. For all his fallen brothers, victims to mindless, soulless aberrations.

For all of them, he would make sure that that wretched thing had eluded justice for the last time.

The Gear patiently watched as the man softly pressed his lips against the golden rosary hanging from his neck. A pointless gesture, she decided. "Are you done?."

Back on his feet again, the knight took a fighting stance. "I do not fear death." He said, his voice full of conviction. "With the Lord and His angels by my side, I cannot lose."

_**Confirm course of action?.**_

_Yes. _

Justice´s red optics flashed in the darkness. "We shall see."

And after those words were said, they charged.

A/N: eeeehhhh, uuuhhhhhh, let´s see...

Justice wears a battlesuit, and as as far as I know, battlesuits usually comes with lots of technobabble.

Kliff is dead. _Oh, well..._

I never played GG, so I can´t possibly imagine how screwed up the last part of the fic is. I tried to find the goddamned PSX Iso in the Mule, but couldn´t do it.

Guess that´s all. Please, don´t forget to review!.

Until next time.


End file.
